Getting a head start

Seventeen pre-kindergarten and Head Start students recently stood in a
U-shape on a multi-colored rug in Jacy Roach's class. As Roach called out
"big line," several children lifted up a ruler-sized piece of
wood.

Roach repeated the same call for a "little line," "big
curve" and "little curve" as upbeat, pop music played in
the background.

The 4- and 5-year-old students then connected the pieces to make capital
letters.

This year, the Kerrville Independent School District has introduced
Handwriting Without Tears, a program that teaches students top-down and
left-to-right formations, capital letters and letter recognition with
wooden pieces, magnetic stamp screens, rubbery dough and mini chalkboards.

Nearly 200 children enrolled in KISD's pre-kindergarten, Head Start,
special education and the Tivy High School's child development programs
spend about 30 minutes of each day using the tools.

Carol Simone, a KISD Head Start coordinator, says the program has several
benefits, including learning letters at a faster pace, proper writing
techniques and improved spatial awareness.

Students using the tools also learn proper grip and good writing habits,
said Stephanie Drake-Woods, an occupational therapist in KISD's Special
Education Department.

"If they don't do it correctly, it's poor formation. (They have) a
hard time and it's slow," said Drake-Woods, who has used the tools
for several years with special education students. "By second grade,
it's so hard to break those habits."

Drake-Woods said she shows teachers how to use the tools to help older
students write legibly. Some students have wonderful, creative ideas, but
struggle to get them on paper, she said.

Students need writing skills throughout their educational careers, including
on the Scholastic Achievement Test, which is used as a college entrance exam,
Simone added.

However, not everyone agrees with teaching handwriting skills to four year
olds.

"Some young children have no interest in learning to write," Flynn
Keith said in an e-mail. "Their developmental needs cause them to
seek other forms of playful experiences that help them to learn useful skills
and information."

Ellen Frede, co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research,
said students at that age shouldn't be worrying about how to form letters.

"It doesn't have meaning," said Frede, a developmental psychologist
and associate professor of early childhood education at the College of New
Jersey. "You want them to understand that learning makes sense."

Instead, children at that age should learn how to tell stories, paint, role
play and read all kinds of books that use alliteration and play with language,
she said. Active learning and child-initiated activities are better than
teacher-directed lessons.

Literacy has a much stronger relationship with oral lessons and whole-group
instruction should be limited to 15 minutes, she said.

Diane Flynn Keith, founder of Universal Preschool, an advocacy group designed
to protect parents' rights to determine educational choices for their children,
said pre-schoolers learn best when they are permitted to explore and follow their
own interests.

"Some young children have no interest in learning to write," Flynn
Keith said in an e-mail. "[T]heir developmental needs cause them to seek
other forms of playful experiences that help them to learn useful skills and
information."

But students in KISD programs are not sitting at a desk trying to write letters
on worksheets, Drake-Woods said in response.

They're using shaving cream, doing "song play" and connecting parts
to a whole, like puzzle pieces. This program is developmentally appropriate and
helps meet demands to have students writing letters by kindergarten, Drake-Woods
said.

"I agree what we're doing to 4 year olds nationwide is inappropriate,"
she said. "Our program is in response to what she said. They don't even touch
pencils. ...It gives them five or six different ways of learning."

In the classroom, Roach asked her students to name things that start with letters
F, G, U and K. They belt out "fish," "grapes," "umbrella"
and "koala."

"They've picked up their letters really quickly," Roach said as her
students darted out the door for recess. "Most can spell their names."